A spy's duty
by Captain Johannes
Summary: Inspired by an actual game of civ 5 I played... Nicolaus Scholtz is a newly recruited spy for the Austrian empire who is on a mission to gather information on the Incan empire, but an unexpected siege sends him on a wild journey home... What will he discover on his way home? Rated T for language and violence.


Life as a spy is no walk in the park. My name is Nicolaus Scholtz, proud agent of Austria, currently on a mission in the Incan Empire. My objective is to find out whatever I can about the Incans and get it back to Queen Maria Theresa at all costs.

Walking into my usual tavern on a saturday afternoon, I take a seat at a table with three other men, all of obvious Incan heritage. This is the place where I gather information. I just walk in, blend in, and make small talk to get the job done. "Hey, pale skin, you don't look like you're from around here..." The Incan sitting directly in front of me glares at me with a certain discrimination in his eyes. Long ago, Austria and the Incans were trading partners, but now they competed over land and resources. We had become rivals, only speaking to each other in a bitter manner, if ever at all. I reply to him, "Everyone tells me that. I was born in Austria, but I moved here with my parents as a child. I could care less about what happens to those scum." He nods off the explanation. I don't think he totally bought it, but he doesn't say anything else to me. Good, I'd rather not be noticed at the moment. I spend the rest of the night cracking jokes with my fellow tavern-goers and playing Incan card games like 'River of Snakes' and 'Sun God's burden'. The sun goes down as the tavern gets more and more packed, which is when I see a group of men come in. Almost instantly, I can see that they're from one of the extremist anti- Austria groups, because they're wearing Cloaks (Incans dress very differently from us Austrians) that depict their soldiers brutally murdering our queen, and they're armed. That's not uncommon for Incan civilizans, but these guys are carrying huge swords that could decapitate a bear in two slices! They head directly for the barkeeper. "Hey, you seen any pale skin bastards walk in here recently?" Oh no. It won't take long for me to stand out in here. I'd better make my escpae fast, lest they torture me to death about my nationality. "Uh... No, I have not. Could I interest you in some fine 100% Incan beer? It'll-" The barkeeper is cut off. "We're not interested in alchohol tonight. **Have you** or **have you not** seen an Austrian in this tavern today?" The barkeeper stammers, "Well, uh... I think I saw a man like that a few hours ago. No, wait there he-" Now I know to run. Hopping over a table, the whole place is dead silent as they watch me try to escape the gang. Just as I rush past the last table before the door, one of them steps in front of me. The other two approach from behind me. Shit, I'm surrounded! "Nice try, pale skin, but you're not getting away your rightful punishment!" This is bad. I've been exposed in front of the entire tavern! And now I'm going to get a beating for it. That poor barkeeper, getting bullied into calling me out. The thugs escortb me out to the back of the tavern, a dark alley with no lighting whatsoever. "Alright, pale face, we're gonna teach you how to be nicer to Incans! Qetpezchi, grab his arms!" Boy, those Incan names sure are weird. But that's not the problem right now. The thug grabs my arms as the other thugs taake turns punching me all across my torso and head. It goes on for about five minutes until the one who I presume to be the leader, pulls out a small knife. He has the look of bloodlust in his eyes, and there's nothing in his way. "You Austrian piece of shit! You still haven't learned your lesson?! I'll make sure you do!" He charges at me with the knife. Great, I had survived all those blows, and just when I thought they'd stop, they were going to kill me? Well, the queen had told me to be ready to die for my country. I guess this was it, even though I wasn't expecting it to happen this way. The Incan low life smirks in my face as he beins to sink the knife into my stomach, making sure he does it slowly. It hurts so bad I vomit blood, much to the thug's disgust. I hear a slight whistling noise in the distance as he cusses at me, screaming, "You son of a bitch! You think you can vomit on my damn head like it's a joke?! What the hell do you-" I can hear a loud 'BOOM' behind me as the ground shakes, causing me and the gang to fall to the ground. Yes, this is my chance to break away from their cruelty! I remember what my mentor, Sir Edward Handel, told me about situations like this. "When surrounded by the enemy, there are three ground rules you must always follow; One, show no mercy in defeating your opponents. Two, strike with the intent to kill. This goes hand in hand with rule one. And finally, three, you must never reveal your true identity. This one always applies in every situation you will face, but most crucially here. Schlotz, are you listening to me?" Back then I was foolish, daydreaming about pretty woman and other stupid things, but now I knew what he had meant. I scrambled onto my feet, and ran towards the lead thug, delivering a powerful kick to his jaw as he attempted to get up. Then I jumped and stomped hard on his throat. He choked on the last breaths of his life. It was nothing short of brutal, and I admittedly felt bad about killing a man, but my mentor was right, because it sent the other two thugs running away. Ha, what cowards! But now I had a new problem, which was the city being attacked. I already knew who it was: China, who had been fighting the Incans for some time, although I had no idea they would bring the fight all the way up here. Anyway, I needed to escape, alive of course, which meant I needed to head north of where I was at. As I begin to run for my life, my whole body aches. I nearly crumple to the ground in pain as I remember the beating I took. I can't do this by myself, I need either a carriage or a horse. Looking around, I see nothing but damaged building and abandoned meeting places. Just then a cannon ball explodes right in front of me, sending me flying back. "Uuuugh..." I groan in pain. First the attack by the gang, then getting stabbed in the stomach, now a cannon ball nearly takes my head off. I can't even move an inch at this rate. "Those metal spheres are destroying the city! Run while you still can!" I chuckle a little at that statement. See, the Incans are the most primitive empire on the planet. They still use guys with crossbows as their main defense, yet act like they're the strongest nation in the world. Assholes. I try to push myself up, but I still can't move. I think I'm going to die here, either by a cannon ball or getting crushed by a building. I close my eyes as I wait to die...

"Climb on, son. This is no time to lie about waiting for death." Opening my eyes, I expect to see some mysterious man or maybe even an angel, but it's just a merchant on a camel. "I... can't get up..." I tell him. He dismounts the camel and picks me up. "Dammit kid, I can't believe I'm doin' this for you. You're very lucky." He props me up on the back of the camel, which I can barely stay on. "Just hold on to me, and you won't fall off. Alright?" I nod a yes to him, and hold on for dear life as he gives a command to the creature to run...


End file.
